Billy had nasty confrontations with both Victor and Victoria after his part in the plot to destroy Newman Enterprises and his lies to Victoria were exposed. After his argument with Victor, Billy turned to the bottle, which, unhappily, ended with a D.U.I. and a short stay at the police station. A furious row with Victoria ensued, and when she flounced out of the station, Billy had no illusions as to where he stood with his soon-to-be off-again ex. Billy has no one to blame but himself. His desire for revenge has caused him to wreak havoc on both the Abbotts and the Newmans and has left Billy isolated and alone.
I sincerely grieve for Billy and for what he has gone through, and I don't expect him to ever forget Delia, but Billy does have two other children who need him -- and whose inheritances he has been destroying in order to hurt Victor. Hanging on to his anger serves neither Billy nor Delia, and besides, when you get right down to it, if blame has to be assigned, then a big share of it has to fall on Billy. Billy is the parent. He was responsible for Delia, and he left her alone. Adam may have hit Delia -- and I still don't think that he did -- but he did not knowingly leave the scene of the accident. Adam is far from the monster that Christine and Billy have made him out to be.
I'm guessing that Billy is the next character to take a trip somewhere and come back with a new face. I can't say that I'm sorry to see Burgess Jenkins exit the role, but I'm not sure how I feel about Jason Thompson taking over. Don't get me wrong. Jason Thompson is the epitome of "tall, dark, and handsome." He's been the suave, upstanding Dr. Drake on General Hospital for the last ten years, and in my opinion, he's been robbed of an Emmy more than once. It's just that seeing blonde, blue-eyed Billy morph into brunette, brown-eyed Billy may feel a little strange to me. I wonder if Billy will get hurt and have to have plastic surgery or if an announcer will merely say, " The part of Billy Abbott is now being played by..." I hope that Jason Thompson does a better job of playing Billy Abbott than Billy Miller is doing playing Jason Morgan. I feel Miller should have stayed put. A year from now, I hope I'm not saying the same thing about Jason Thompson.
I'd like to see Jason Thompson finally get his Emmy. One great thing about Y&R is the meaty material that they give their actors to chew on. Y&R has a terrific cast of actors, maybe the best of all the soaps, so I expect 2016 to be another great year in Sudsland. Hmm, dye Thompson's hair blonde, put in blue contact lenses, dress him in Hawaiian shirts...Nah.
In other developments, the devious Dr. Anderson has started to let her claws show. The hostility that she directed at Nick and the Newmans was very apparent, though she covered smoothly. What is her agenda? In my last column, I suggested that she might be either the girl, or related to the girl, who had been injured at a pool party hosted by a then teenaged Nick. Drinking led to a spinal injury and a payoff from the Newmans. What I don't understand is why it has taken so long for Dr. Anderson to act. By my count, even allowing for the warp in the time-space continuum surrounding Genoa City, that accident occurred at least 25 years ago and possibly as many as 32 years ago, depending on Noah's age, which was 24 on his last birthday, two years or so ago.
Either way, that seems like a long time to wait before exacting revenge, unless Dr. Anderson was not the victim but a close relative, who watched her sister ( twin sister?) suffer and pass away as a result of those injuries. Something like that would make sense, but if Dr. Anderson is the injured party, then it seems to me that everything turned out okay for her. One thing's for sure, if Victor was footing the bill, the devious doc is not saddled with a bunch of student loans like most young doctors these days!
If the doctor's intention was to sink an arrow into Nick and the Newmans, she failed, because it bounced off them and landed directly in Sage's heart. Sage fans must be in agony to see the devastation in her eyes and hear it in her voice -- what a great job Kelly Sullivan is doing! On a maternal level, Sage already knows that Sully is hers. When she tells Nick, he won't believe her, and I have no doubt that the couple will end up in counseling with Dr. Devious. Sage will turn away from Nick and toward Adam, and it will probably be Adam and Sage who unwrap the blanket of secrecy surrounding "their" baby.
Adam and Chelsea are starting down a slippery slope. The secret of Christian's paternity is hanging over Adam's head, and Chelsea will figure it out even as she questions the growing closeness between Sage and Adam.
And poor duped Dylan. How many babies can he care for as his own, only to find out that "Rock-a-bye-bye-baby" is the only tune that he will be crooning? Hey, Mac, better book a room in Fairview. Sharon's is available! If I were Dylan, I'd want some proof the next time a woman told me she was pregnant. A minimum of three DNA tests from different labs. I feel so sad. I can't enjoy Dylan's happiness at all because the cradle is going to tumble, and it's goodbye baby Sully.
Dr. Anderson could definitely star in a movie titled Bad Shrink. Hopefully, she is not representative of her profession. If she is, then it's no wonder nobody ever gets cured. I've often thought that psychiatrists -- and doctors in general -- are independent contractors whose income depends on our patronage; so the question is, is it in the shrink's best interest to get us well or keep us sick? Just a thought brought on by Dr. Anderson's manipulation of Sharon. Before I forget, I expect that it will be Patty who figures out what Dr. Anderson did and spills the beans.
We have not heard the last of Patty Cake, who will likely be coming for Phyllis. Ian is smitten with Phyllis, and Patty has fallen for Ian, so Patty will not tolerate Ian's interest in Phyllis. Neither is Phyllis done with Victor, and I can definitely sympathize with her. What Victor did by replacing Jack with Marco, on her honeymoon no less, was vile and loathsome and absolutely makes my skin crawl. I don't know how any civilized person could do something like that to another. I, too, would exact my revenge, but in a non-destructive way. I would not burn down my own house because my enemy was standing in it. On further reflection, Phyllis ought to be mad at herself. How could she not know the difference between Marco and Jack?
Adam and Victor are so close and so far apart. Even as each professes his love for the other, they do it in such a convoluted fashion that each can deliberately misunderstand the other. I don't know how many times I have screamed at Victor to spit it out and just say, "I love you, Adam. You are just as important to me as Victoria, Nick, and Abby." I yell at Adam to tell Victor that Adam wants to be part of the family, but neither of them listens to me. It won't stop me from continuing to nag, though.
I do imagine that the doubters and naysayers will succeed in getting Adam and Victor to mistrust each other. I hope they wait until after Christmas. I'm looking forward to a great big, old-fashioned Christmas at the ranch with all the Newman children and grandchildren gathered for the holiday celebration. It's a tossup as to whether Victor will be Scrooge or Bob Cratchit. I guess it all depend on how far the Paragon Project has pushed Victor toward the poorhouse.
Over at the Abbotts', Traci will be headed home for the family gathering. I wonder if Kyle will be around. I haven't seen him with Summer recently. Does anyone know if they broke up? I think it would be nice if Summer could find someone to date who is not her stepbrother. On the other hand, there are not a lot of men in Summer's age range in Genoa City. I suppose, though, that if Marisa can date Marco and Noah, Summer could date Kyle and Jack -- if Jack ever broke up with Phyllis.
The Grinch may steal Christmas from the Winters clan, who have so much drama in their lives that their drama has drama. Hilary divorced Neil to marry Devon but fell off a mountain, lost her memory, and now loves Neil, who loves her back but doesn't want to hurt Devon, who hurt him first. Devon thinks that Cane tried to extort money from him. Cane thinks that Joe set him up, locked him up, and left him to die so that Joe could snag Lily from Cane. Lily at first thought that Cane was guilty and slept with Joe for a second time, until she found evidence that exonerated Cane. (Why lock a sweatshirt in a safe, Joe? Was it spun from gold?)
Cane has every right to be upset with both Devon and Lily. They are family and should behave as such. Somebody, wearing a devil suit, did leave an unconscious Cane locked in a closet in a burning building. Both Ian and Joe had on devil costumes. I've been mulling about whether or not Joe might be working with Ian. Joe could also have a grudge against Victor. After all, Victor pulled out of the waterfront deal, which could have been very costly for Joe. We've seen what a vindictive weasel Joe can be when he doesn't get what he wants. All I'm saying here is that I wouldn't want to be in charge of the seating chart for the Winterses' Christmas dinner. And I thought my family was dysfunctional!
The soaps were preempted by another deadly shooting last week, this time in southern California. My heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families and to the families of the shooters, who seemed as stunned as anyone by the violent behavior attributed to members of their family. I only mention this because a huge chunk of the show was preempted, which is happening way too often lately.
I find it very annoying to have my soap-induced delusion shattered by anything -- even the pope. I often think that if people watched more soap opera and less gore and violence, some of these tragedies might be avoided. I wouldn't have to read recaps to find out what I missed, not that the recaps aren't excellent and accurate, which they are! It's just that it's always all about me! I don't know about you, but I can easily wait until after my show has finished to hear bad news! It's not like you can't go to the Internet or a news channel and hear about the tragedy du jour, over and over again, for days and days. In the olden times, that was called "beating a dead horse."
That's all for now. I'll be back in two weeks with "The Best and Worst of 2015." Until then, we can celebrate the holiday season with friends and family. We can let joy and love fill our hearts until everything else is blotted out and our lives are as idyllic as those of our beloved imaginary friends in Genoa City -- at least for 37 minutes a day, five days a week!
What are your thoughts on The Young and the Restless? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
